If you are strong enough to lift more but limited by your grip strength, you aren't going to be hitting your full potential. You can work on your grip strength with other exercises, wrist straps just help you hold onto heavier weights for exercises like shrugs and deadlifts.

A powerball can do wonders. I got really bad carpal tunnel and used rest and a powerball at a very light pace to loosen up my hands and I do it every couple days for a couple minutes and the carpal tunnel hasn't come back.

How is it for FPS? I have a Logitech M570 coming in the mail and everyone seems to whine about how trackballs are terrible for gaming. I'm not particularly good with a regular mouse anyway, so I don't think I'll get much worse with a trackball, but I do think that they're cool.

Hm. I have never had a problem with a trackball and FPS, though I don't play a lot of FPS. My husband plays Planetside 2 with a trackball and he doesn't have any issues. It definitely takes some getting used to. I hated mine at first, but it was worth it in the long run.

Not OP but I have experience. It takes a lot of getting used to, but in my teens I used to dominate online UT with a Microsoft Intellimouse Trackball. Shit was boss as hell. Headshots all day long. The finger dexterity you get from it comes in handy too wink wink. Since then though I've gone back to traditional gaming mice and after some problems with my back I've adjusted to a proper seating arrangement which can help with carpal tunnel by giving the rest of your body the correct orientation, avoiding strain. Even though I've been gaming hard-fucking-core for nearly 20 years, I can still game for hours and I do suffer from very slight carpal tunnel, which led to these changes.

The key points for sitting correctly to alleviate as much stress on the wrist as possible:

Keep your back straight! If this isn't comfortable at first, you need to do it even more. I had a wicked curve (almost like a posture bias) at the bottom of my back from slouching when I was younger. I managed to self correct it by sleeping ensuring my feet were flat on the bed with knees bent, pushing the bottom of my back into alignment. Sitting straight now (maybe at a couple degree incline backwards) is very comfortable now, though I don't recommend self-correcting, if you lie down on a flat surface naturally and can feel that your back isn't touching the surface all the way from the top to the base of your back you should see a doctor. I have much better posture now and that leads on to point 2...

Seat angle. Many of you have probably leaned your chairs forwards or backwards by the SEAT as well as the back, this puts strain on the base of your spine and is again bad for blood flow and posture. Straighten that shit out!

Seat height. Many PC gamers I know sit far too low down. Their arms are resting almost like a fulcrum on the desk and their shoulders are hunched up, this as you might imagine is BAD. Poor posture and blood flow can accelerate carpal tunnel onset, plus having your arms in a fucked up position is never good. Set your chair to a height where your forearms are almost perpendicular to your desk. Try not to have the forearm dangle off by or resting on the wrist either, this will definitely not help. The easiest way to sort this out is just to move your keyboard and mouse further back or closer to you on the desk, in line with your new seat height.

Use your arm rests! If your chair has them and your desk doesn't provide enough support, let them support your elbow and forearm naturally, though again try not to hold yourself up by them or put too much weight on them, this will restrict blood flow.

Sure, the natural curvature of your spine is called Lordosis and really your back shouldn't be arrow straight to the ground, however it's quite common for people to have hyper-Lordosis where the hips drop forward, pulling the base of the spine with it. The article I linked there gives some good tips on gradually eliminating it, I managed to do it by altering my sleeping position, stretching my back while I slept until I could lie comfortably and didn't have to push out to make my lower back touch the mattress. I wouldn't recommend anyone else do that, I was young and didn't know what the problem actually was, I'm surprised I didn't end up with worse problems and got lucky stopping it when I thought I'd fixed it enough!

I use an M570 and play a lot of FPSes (BF3, TF2, Planetside 2, etc). I never really feel at a disadvantage with it, and their are times where I feel it might even give me a bit of an edge (being able to make quick turns to look behind me for instance). Anecdotally I've been gaming and working with a trackball for almost 20 years now and I have not had any problems with carpal tunnel.

Not going to lie, ive been pc gaming since i was 12 (im 25 now) the only time I felt strain was long play time. I usually quit afterwards and it goes away in a hour. I dont do much long gaming (or even at all anymore :( ) as I use to since I have to do adult things now but reading this and looking at the pictures my right wrist has a weird feeling in it. Idk if its just my mind playing tricks or what but im scared now. Great post btw

I developed carpel tunnel in my teen years. It seems that one of the big problems was actually in how I held my hands while I slept. I got a set of rigid wrist braces and would wear them while I slept and it would help a lot. Eventually I stopped needing the braces entirely.

That was the day when those 3 guys were chasing you in Battlefield 3 and your teammates started yelling "run Forrest run!" over teamspeak and your mouse arm broke free of it's brace and you sprinted to safety.

Is my legs going numb a problem? For about three months now I've felt this happen quite frequently and I'm starting to get worried. If anyone can help or give advice, that would be very much appreciated.

That means the chair is cutting off circulation to your legs. You should aim to get a new chair, but for now you should just stand up often and move around. Take lots of bathroom breaks, get a drink, stretch, stuff which gets you moving a bit.

That seems to be the best option. I had a slight problem like that and now, I make sure I have heaps of water (which is downstairs) and therefore pee a lot (bathroom trips). It's also good to just continue browsing on your phone while pacing around the room by using feedly, chrome to phone or read it later etc. Reddit apps are good for that too.

I am really tempted to get a RSI mouse though. I usually use a controller for gaming anyway and having a RSI mouse can't hurt right?

I'd assume your chairs seat is cutting off circulation to your legs. For that I'd recommend first trying to change sitting positions, if that doesn't work get some kind of seat cushion or even a pillow, if all else fails I suggest getting a new chair.

Another thing that can help (especially if you use a RSI friendly vert. mouse):

For everyday computer related work (browsing, scrolling etc.) I suggest you use your non dominant hand to move the mouse. It DOES take a while to get used to. About 1.5 weeks for me, but it helped take away some of the pressure from my dominant right hand. Also, it's ought to have created a few extra links in my brain.

You then just go to your OS's mouse config and switch the buttons around (you can even create a shortcut I think) and switch the mouse to your dominant hand when you are gaming or need the precision etc.

South Park got it wrong in that WoW episode. Carpal tunnel = numbness and tingling due to a pinched nerve. Cartman receiving Bengay is indicative of inflammation of the tendons, and not carpal tunnel tingling.

Pain vs. Numbness

"A predominance of pain rather than numbness is unlikely to be caused by carpal tunnel syndrome no matter what the result of electrophysiological testing."

"There is little clinical data to prove whether repetitive and forceful movements of the hand and wrist during work or leisure activities can cause carpal tunnel syndrome. Other disorders such as bursitis and tendonitis have been associated with repeated motions performed in the course of normal work or other activities."

"After talking to several specialists, I'm going to proceed to regenerate both of my patellar tendons and working hard to get back to my 100%," Gasol wrote on Twitter.

"It's more than tendinitis, it's tendinosis," Gasol said. "There's a degeneration of the tissue, and it's something that I've dealt with all year. So I'll have to do something to regenerate the tissue so I don't have to play with this pain."

failure to understand the ergonomics of vertically mounted touchscreens for prolonged use. By this proposition the human arm held in an unsupported horizontal position rapidly becomes fatigued and painful

Eye control can be lower in physical exertion.

Speech recognition

Lastly, there's now a free, open source GNU/Linux speech recognition program that uses Google's voice APIs on the back-end called Palaver.

My doctor told me that carpal tunnel can affect anyone, and that it was not necessarily a RSI. I was smart enough to get the operation within 3 months of the problems starting, so I have no problems anymore. My mother waited 3 years, and she will probably never feel her finger tips again.

I have this mouse right now, I suppose it isn't the most ergonomic design, but I do feel the difference between this and the x518 I switched from. It doesn't go as far as being ergonomic, but I think it's a healthy medium.

Also, what about us double jointed elbow'd people? Are arms are already twisted, does that mean we're more prone to Carpal tunnel?

A lot of the ergonomics info is portable from one to the other (I've had tendinitis for 20 years). There are particular styles of movement on keyboards that can be worse than others (my bane was typesetting physics equations in LaTeX); keyboards designed for people with RSIs can help (when my tendonitis was at its worst I used a datahand keyboard. No idea if they're still around, and it takes getting used to, but damn did that help like crazy). I do my gaming, writing, and emailing in short stints.

When you're early in the development and it's really bad, you pretty much do have to completely lay off of using them, though. Some doctors will refer you to physical therapy to learn hand exercises that can help.

Other than that, I mostly focus on ways to avoid aggravating my tendonitis so I can use what slack I have for the things most important to me. I don't lift anything heavy. If I have to hold something at all heavy, or open a heavy door, I use my forearm(s) rather than hands. I find a trackpad does less damage to me than a mouse, but some people find just the opposite, so your mileage may vary. Icing helps---a bag of frozen peas is awesome, as it can shape to your hands. Just throw it back in the freezer for the next time, but remember not to eat them. ;)

Edited to add: Oh, yeah, vibration, and in particular impact vibration, can be particularly bad for your tendinitis (or at least, so I've found). So try not to catch yourself with your hands if you fall (I know, easier said than done). Try to avoid smacking your hands/wrists/arms into things (ditto). Also, you might need to avoid things that send vibrations through your hands, such as vacuum cleaners (use it as an excuse to get a roomba!), electric shavers, etc.

It's the first time I ever got pain in my forearms. If I get enough rest, do I have a chance to get rid of it or am I stuck with this for my entire life?

Unfortunately I really can't say. I gather if you do the right things quickly enough it is possible for it to heal, but definitely see a doctor experienced in RSIs. (If your regular doc doesn't have much experience with it and there are no hand or RSI specialists in your area, a sports injury specialist might be able to help.) All I know for sure is that if you let it get bad enough for long enough, you can end up stuck with it. That said, you can develop good habits that minimize problems even if you do end up stuck with it.

South Park got it wrong in that WoW episode. Carpal tunnel = numbness and tingling due to a pinched nerve. Cartman receiving Bengay is indicative of inflammation of the tendons, and not carpal tunnel tingling.

Pain vs. Numbness

"A predominance of pain rather than numbness is unlikely to be caused by carpal tunnel syndrome no matter what the result of electrophysiological testing."

"There is little clinical data to prove whether repetitive and forceful movements of the hand and wrist during work or leisure activities can cause carpal tunnel syndrome. Other disorders such as bursitis and tendonitis have been associated with repeated motions performed in the course of normal work or other activities."

"After talking to several specialists, I'm going to proceed to regenerate both of my patellar tendons and working hard to get back to my 100%," Gasol wrote on Twitter.

"It's more than tendinitis, it's tendinosis," Gasol said. "There's a degeneration of the tissue, and it's something that I've dealt with all year. So I'll have to do something to regenerate the tissue so I don't have to play with this pain."

failure to understand the ergonomics of vertically mounted touchscreens for prolonged use. By this proposition the human arm held in an unsupported horizontal position rapidly becomes fatigued and painful

Eye control can be lower in physical exertion.

Speech recognition

Lastly, there's now a free, open source GNU/Linux speech recognition program that uses Google's voice APIs on the back-end called Palaver.

What would you think it might be if I get discomfort (but not really pain) in my arm? Forearm and bicep area? Its like when I'm using my hand a lot, like writing intensively, my hand will start to get numb, and my veins (or something) in my arm start to spaz a little.

Sorry, I’m not too sure what that could be. However, I think it’s better to have an issue with the larger muscles instead of the finer hand tendons. It’s less complicated, and larger muscles get better blood flow.

I am a climber and am constantly doing finger strength and grip exercises. Luckily, knock on wood, I have never had any symptoms of carpal tunnel. I would like to think finger, grip, and wrist exercises have some preventative benefits, but I can't find anything super solid except, this and this. Would like to find some peer reviewed articles that support the idea that certain exercises can prevent carpal tunnel if anyone can find them.

Thanks for the info. I sort of worry about carpal tunnel in the back of my head sometimes, though luckily have never felt any of the symptoms. I didn't know they made those sideways mice or anything either. All good stuff to keep in mind.

I sort of started devloping carpal tunnel (or it felt like it: wrist pain, forearm pain) so I started sitting with a good posture and more importantly I began to use a mousemat with a gel wrist-rest and a gel wrist-rest for my keyboard. The pain has barely ever returned since (only mildly if I spend a couple of days in a row gaming a lot).

I believe for me it was that I always used to have my wrists hanging off the edge of the desk. The sharp edge was digging into the underside of my wrist. It didn't happen as bad when I went to university and my desk had a rounded off edge.

Guess it depends on a persons wrists. Since I started using mine my wrist aches went away. That said, it was pointless if the wrist rest wasn't at the correct height (so my wrist was in line with my forearm).

I had a suspicion I was getting RSI as my wrist, thumb, arm and shoulder/neck start hurting and aching sometimes even just after a few minutes. I haven't gone to the GP as I know they're just going to tell me to exercise, which is apparently their favourite panacea.

I'm about to start a new job that'll be 8 hours at a computer every day (on top of gaming at home)... do you (anyone in here really) think that if I get myself a vertical mouse for work this would alleviate some of the problem? Enough that I can just keep my gaming mouse at home?

I have suffered for 18 years + with CT in both hands. Its horrible, I have thought about surgery but its hit and miss for people. I use wrist braces and take pain killers. Nothing is going to stop me from gaming.

An important point missing here is wrist angle. If your hand is angled noticeably differently from your forearm when using a mouse or keyboard, you need to adjust your posture and/or chair height until it's not. No matter how your arm is rotated, keeping the wrist straight is considerably better.

Some people are more susceptible than others, and there are plenty of non-gaming and non-computer activities that can cause or contribute to RSIs as well. There are also some poor ways of using a computer that can contribute to very quickly developing an RSI, so, not much gaming necessarily needed.

Great post. Most people have no idea that RSIs can become permanently debilitating. I'm happy to say I've successfully talked multiple people into going to their doctors rather than ignoring it.

...Mostly by explaining that I have permanent tendinitis in my hands and arms thanks to not getting help quickly enough 20 years ago. I've learned so many adaptive ways to avoid stressing my tendons. Of course, NOW, 20 years later, I'm developing CT symptoms out of the blue. At least I already know to worry, and I know some of the things to do to alleviate it, so I have a jump on most people, but I'm grateful for your timely post.

Thank you for posting this OP. Tho as soon as I read that s tingly feeling in the wrist is a symptom my wrist started to feel tingly. Pretty sure it's just my mind playing games with me as this is the first time my wrist has felt weird. Anyways, thanks for the warning and advice.

From one PC gamer to another, I really appreciate you posting this. Carpal tunnel is one of those things that I think is easy to worry about, but also really easy to forget about. The fact of the matter is, carpal tunnel is indeed a generational problem. Our generation. Thanks for the tips and advice, I think it's vital us PC gamers try to incorporate this into our lives.

Please go try something like active release technique before you jump to a surgery.

Its been a few years since I checked but the last time I did it seemed like the surgery had a good short term success rate but not so good after 2 to 5 years. If you have a severe enough case, though, surgery will be your only option.

How do I know if I am developing CT? I am on the computer all the time for hours a day and my hand has never had soreness or numbness...does that mean I'm fine for now? The only thing I have had was after particularly lengthy gaming sessions was that bone that kind of protrudes a bit on the underside of your wrist on the outside was a bit red and irritated but not sore.

I will consider getting a padded mousepad or some kind of rest for my wrist now...though I have used them before and I really don't like them very much, but we'll see! One reason I may have never felt it is because most of the time my wrist is like this, hanging off the edge of the desk...it's mostly the lower fleshy part of my hand that rests on the desk most of the time.

I will advise as if you have symptoms but no medical access due to cost.

Severe symptoms for those without medical care:

Cease use of hand for 1-2 weeks, and ice it every hour is possible.

Try to find someone who has leftover prednisone steroids, like an asthmatic or someone with artritis. Take a 5-7day course of steroids including two loading doses. Day 1-2 40mg, 3-7 20mg.

If you cannot get prednisone, use ibuprofin. Take 400-600mg depending on your body weight. It's not as good as steroids however. I would not take 600mg for more than three days in a row. Ibuprofin on an empty stomach can cause incredibly severe problems. Take it with plenty of food. Do not take with any kind of alcohol at all.

If you are allergic to ibuprofin: Take one benadryl at night to push down the inflammation.

Ice your wrist frequently. Every 15 minutes for an hour on initial injury, then per hour. If pain does not decrease, seek immediate medical attention.

Wrist immobilizers work for some people, I found they only put more pressure on the nerve.

I had extremely bad RSI (carpel tunnel) in my mouse hand. I suffered for years until a guy I know said he got a TENS unit. I picked one up for £20, hooked the sticky pads up onto the top of my hand where the pain was, plugged them into the tiny little unit and away I went. 2 or 3 short sessions completely healed me. I haven't had any trouble since, which was about 3 years ago.

Nintendo thumb, known also as gamer's grip, Nintendinitis and similar names, is a video game-related health problem classified as a form of repetitive strain injury (RSI). The symptoms are the blistering, paraesthesia and swelling of the thumbs, mainly through use of the D-pad, though any finger can be affected. This can lead to stress on tendons, nerves and ligaments in the hands, and further onto lateral epicondylitis ("tennis elbow"), tendinitis, bursitis and carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).

you can avoid carpal tunnel pretty easily as long as you keep your arms below your hands/wrists. Carpal tunnel happens because you bend your wrists outward from the bottom, and compresses your carpal tunnel, hence the name. I've been doing anywhere from 8 to 16 hour gaming stints for years and I've never had any problems with this syndrome